We had frequent occasion, in our walks on shore, to remark the
deception which takes place in estimating the distance and
magnitude of objects when viewed over an unvaried surface of snow.
It was not uncommon for us to direct our steps towards what we
took for a large mass of stone at the distance of half a mile from
us, but which we were able to take up in our hands after one
minute's walk. This was more particularly the case when ascending
the brow of a hill, nor did we find that the deception became less
on account of the frequency with which we experienced its effects.
In the afternoon the men were usually occupied in drawing and
knotting yarns, and in making points and gaskets; a never-failing
resource where mere occupation is required, and which it was
necessary to perform entirely on the lower deck, the yarns
becoming so hard and brittle, when exposed on deck to the
temperature of the atmosphere, as to be too stiff for working, and
very easily broken. I may in this place remark, that our lower
rigging became extremely slack during the severity of the winter,
and gradually tightened again as the spring returned: effects the
very reverse of those which we had anticipated, and which I can
only account for by the extreme dryness of the atmosphere in the
middle of winter, and the subsequent increase of moisture.
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